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Shandy; Separation Anxiety

There are numerous reasons why a dog suffers separation anxiety and the symptoms range from being a person’s permanent shadow, howling when left, destroying property, defecating and urinating all because it needs to be with the owner. The dog believes it cannot survive without them.

This problem is a massive subject and there are so many various techniques to cure this depending on the dog, the owners as well as its history and its environment.

Shandy is not my dog yet in a few days even though I did my best to distance myself from him so Winston and Penelope could teach him how to play the question is why a dog that for three months tried to keep away from people should now wish to become my shadow.

Imagine if you were in some foreign country and did not know the language but there was one person that could manage to understand what you were trying to say. Would you not stick to that person like glue? This is because of our inherent need to communicate with one another. Imagine our stress at not being able to tell people what it is we want.

The fact is verbal communication is five or ten percent of our actual communication methods. Body language and scent our always working away as we talk and it is possible to be saying one thing yet our body gives us away because we are thinking the opposite.

With all my years of experience with animals and leaning how to approach them so they have trust in me even if I think I am not doing anything Shandy recognises there is communication. I often go to houses where they have a cat that normally is aloof to strangers yet they come to sit on my lap. How often do people remark that for their cats to do this you must be a cat person?

Trying to ignore Shandy possibly only showed my leadership skills and he needed to feel part of a pack with a leader that would take away all his stress. Certainly looking at him now, you would not recognise him to as he was before, hiding away in his kennel.

I had to teach him to become multi-handler so when he went back to the Shelter he needed many different people to walk him so that it reinforces to him all people are nice.

Before I could send him back, I had to stop him being my shadow. He did not come into my bedroom so I knew he could survive without me but so long as I was on the premises. I did in the early three days go out and leave them all together in the garden. At first when I returned Shandy was there waiting at the gate. By the third day when I returned there was no forlorn dog waiting for me as he was either playing or sleeping peacefully.

That week I was moving house so I kept Shandy and Penelope until I had settled into my new home. The reason is that as I had hired a van walking backward and forward loading the van, it would be boring to Shandy. Well that was the theory.

All day I was back and forth along with my shadow. My only respite was taking the first two loads to my new house. Once back to loading the van again I found I had my shadow back. I would go into the house then go upstairs but then turn round again and come down, as I was empting the down stairs rooms but it made Shandy rush past me to get upstairs only to find that was not where I was going.

Winston and Penelope gave up after half an hour so the attachment to me by Shandy was appearing hard to break.

By nine in the evening there began signs of Shandy hanging back so at last he was not getting fulfilment of his need or almost craving to be with me.

At eleven at night, my last trip included three dogs in the back of the van on our way to my new home. I had simply left everything anywhere on the floor and once I found my bed I left them to play in the garden or sleep where ever and I would sort it all out the next day.

With the next morning and as I started to put things away, once again Shandy followed me backwards and forwards to the shed where I was going to keep all my dog stock and files. Finally at midday my shadow had gone. Shandy was either playing with Winston and Penelope or they were all asleep. I was now able to clear the house and finish putting items into the shed without having a constant companion.

I kept Shandy and Penelope for a few more days so I could take him for some more sociability walks. Once I was certain he would walk for anyone I took both of them back to the Shelter where I asked the staff to ask as many people to take Shandy out for walks and if possibly put him in a bigger run with lots more dogs as he loves to play now.

I understand they have been doing this and he is ok though they were anxious when he would go into his kennel. The obvious question was is it going to start all over again. The proof that this would not happen was he would come out to go for a walk and the pictures of him running around and alert speak volumes.

If you feel you could give Shandy a good home I will gladly help in anyway to settle him in but now I doubt he needs any more of my help.

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